...Plain Upon Tablets

  American biographer and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin*, through her extensive study of leadership, found that there were common traits and behavioral patterns that existed among distinctively different leaders, among those traits being "humility, empathy, resilience, courage; the ability to replenish energy, listen to diverse opinions, control negative impulses, connect with all manner of people, communicate through stories, and keep one's word." As I read through these traits, there is a word that resonates within me--and it's not found within this list but within each trait: LOVE. In Matthew 22:37-40, NASB, when Jesus is asked which commandment of the Law is the greatest, Jesus replied with two: "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Upon these two commandments hang the whole La...

Some time ago, I began posting on Andrew Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession . The book contains 31 chapters, each chapter constituting a "day." In each day, Murray highlights a facet of intercession: what it is, why it's important, and how we are to come to it, among others. I posted on days one through five previously, and those links are below. Today, I'm talking on Day 6, "Christ as Intercessor." In this short chapter, Christ is called the true Intercessor as "God Himself would provide the true Intercessor, in Christ His Son, of whom it had already been said, ' He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors '" (Isa. 53:12; Murray 25). Murray provides other places in the bible where Jesus intercedes for man (John 17; Luke 22:32) before concluding with the most poignant prayer from Jesus to God - "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34) as Jesus was on the cross (Murray 26). With Jesus ...

Are you ready to be an intercessor? Are you ready to up your game as an intercessor? In Isaiah 59:16, it is written: And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor . In this chapter of The Secret of Intercession , Murray talks of God's desire to have intercessors to have those that love "the people enough or who had sufficient faith in His power to deliver, to intercede on their behalf" (21). God is looking for those people, those who love others enough and believe in him enough to prayer for others. It's not an easy position. It was the  position of Christ before he took his place on the throne. When Christ took the throne, man was given the obligation to extend God's kingdom. As Murray writes, "He [Jesus] ever lives to pray. Prayer is the highest exercise of His royal prerogative as Priest-King upon the throne. All that Christ was to do in heaven was to be in fellowship with His people on earth" (22). He also ...

Intercession ~  prayer, petition, or entreaty in favor of another In Andrew Murray's book, The Secret of Intercession , day one focuses on intercession--its meaning and its importance in our lives. It's a rather short chapter, but there is a vitality to it, a read this now and act  feeling to it. At the end of the day one section, a question is posed: How are those who pray for others blessed themselves? When I think on this question, two verses instantly come to mind. 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another. Praying for others is the epitome of that love we are to give to others, share with the world. So often, it is easy to turn our cameras on ourselves, to get so focused on self that we forget...

First full week of school kicked off last week. I'm excited, nervous about the semester. I'm excited because every class I'm taking will provide a practical benefit almost immediately to me. For example, my grants/proposal class will enable me to submit a proposal to a conference, to develop a proposal for a non-profit organization, and to develop an academic or industry proposal...with a purpose . Last semester was heavy in theory, in the foundation, the understanding of all the things we will be doing. It got very tedious, very fast with the mounds upon mounds of words to read and dear God, try to understand in order to articulate a fairly intelligent response. I've always been good at doing . Not to say I'm bad at thinking and understanding , but if you give me a task, the task will get done , and usually, done well . So though there is a lot of work to be done this semester, the act of doing is right up my alley. Having said this, the first week, week and a ha...

This time next week, I will have only two final exams to write to conclude my first semester in the doctoral program, and once I'm "done" done, there will be a celebratory, reflective post here. For now, I want to talk about BEING GRATEFUL. The Monday before Thanksgiving I was battling some big-time depression, and the Monday after Thanksgiving I was talking about being done with NaNoWriMo. Totally missed out on that great Thanksgiving tradition of talking about what you're grateful for. I'm grateful (and blessed because for me they go hand-in-hand) to have a God who looks out for me when I don't look out for myself . He really is the reason I have come this far and that I can see some light at the end of this tunnel. He never let me forget (even when I tried) my intelligence and my strength. He always had just the right word to calm me. He always knew who needed to call me, or who needed to invite me to lunch to talk, or who needed to tweet me so that we coul...

"Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation." (Psalm 91:14-16, KJV) You want to feel the presence of the Lord. Read fully Psalm 91. I can't read through the whole passage without crying, without feeling abundantly blessed at just how good the Lord is to me...because I set my love upon him. Psalm 91 reads like a love letter, a love letter in which the one who holds our heart knows how much we love him and in response showers us with the truth of just what he will do FOR us because of our love. Not only will he loves us, but he sends angels to protect us as well. And in the passage above, we even learn that upon helping us through troubles and delivering us victoriously, he will honor us. In my whole life, there has ne...